The EASIEST Way to Learn the Modes on Guitar!

You want the EASIEST way to learn the modes on guitar??? Uncle Ben Eller here has your back!!! I'm gonna take you all on an epic journey through ALL 7 MODE SHAPES in the key of G major as you've likely never played them before. These 3+4 patterns are SO easy to learn and SHRED. Whether you're a modal master or a scale n00b, these shapes are gonna change the way you play! They're a lot easier to visualize and memorize than big clunky patterns you've seen and used in the past, and they'll help you learn the notes on the fretboard more better by locating root notes on various strings. Your mind gonna be BLOWN.

Playing my Jackson SL2 American Series Soloist into the Synergy OS module into the UA OX, and it sounds NICE!!!!

What theory topic do you want to see a lesson on next? Let me know in the comments!

[Wagnar]

Been playing guitar for 26 years now, I have done the band thing, took like ten years of lessons also been to and finshed a diploma in jazz guitar and I teach for a living . so I have been around the guitar a lot, and no one has ever shown me these before, so slick and super intuitive this was a great lesson. thank you and you had me with the lord of the rings lore

[ScottfromBaltimore]

It still gets me that modes are all just diatonic scales with different root notes.
The bit at the end where you play each over its home chord was helpful.

[stevevender]

Very much a beginner here. Wasn’t sure I’d get much out of this but just the two string Ionian scale was worth it. Slowly but surely. Thanks!

[jeisindillow]

You just smashed 3 half hour headache lessons into one smooth easy to swallow burrito. Well done sir. Well done.

[WyattScott]

Ben’s my favorite YT guitar guy cause he’s like a bro ya know. Like someone I know and grew up with, no pretentious BS, just gold content and delivery.

[johnnymcjohnsonville]

Love your content Uncle Ben, you’ve taken many string ticklers to new heights.

Some things I hope can be helpful to others – the way I’ve learned the modes AND fretboard is to memorize all the natural notes CDEFGAB on the fretboard using mode pattern boxes.

Background music theory: each note letter has a mode associated with it where all the notes are natural (no sharps or flats):
1. C Ionian aka Major scale (way to remember: “See-eye”) CDEFGAB
2. D Dorian (D-D, easy) DEFGABC
3. E Phrygian (“Eat-fridge”) EFGABCD
4. F Lydian (“F- Lydia”, she sucks) FGABCDE
5. G Mixolydian (“Granola mix”) GABCDEF
6. A Aeolian Aka minor scale (A-A, easy) ABCDEFG
7. B Locrian (“Be-low”) BCDEFGA

See how the sequence is always alphabetical, but starting on a different letter.

Someone just starting out might be confused about G Ionian mentioned in the video, because C is usually associated with Ionian. You can apply a mode’s note interval spacing to any root note, which is how Uncle Ben gets the G Ionian at the 3rd fret. GABCDEF#

If the root note or background chord is a C major, you can play any of the modes of C Ionian listed above and it will sound major and happy. Change the chord to A minor but keep playing the same notes from those modes and suddenly it sounds sad. All the notes are the same but the mood becomes different because the context (root note) has changed. A mode/scale’s mood comes from the *note relationships to the root*, not the individual notes themselves.

There are 5 mode box patterns in the sequence (C Ionian is inside in B, just ignore the first C note) and (same, F Lydian is inside E, skip E) Start with the open E string and play the natural note sequence EFGABCD in a box that spans the open strings to the third fret (reference a chart that shows fret notes). Continue this idea with G on the third fret of the E string, A-5th fret, B-7th fret, D-10th fret. You’ll see that the guitar is tuned in such a way that you can go through all notes in the modes within a 4 fret finger stretch across all 6 strings.

The mode boxes attach to each other end-to-end in an endless cycle. These mode boxes can be shifted and applied to any root note to allow you to play the modes in any key. Also remember that any 7 note scale contains 7 modes in 7 different keys (5 note scale=5 modes, 5 keys etc). Every mode of a scale contains the same notes, just with the sequence starting on a different letter. It’s a bargain 7-for-1 deal. Knowing the modes and their major/minor character also helps in understanding chord progressions. This is just one way to learn the fretboard and music theory that I taught myself, but there are many others that have their own benefits.

TL;DR Learn the C major scale, then how the modes are based off it. Apply to fretboard. This is what has helped me wrap my head around music theory+the fretboard and improvisation.

[ergonaught]

Probably going to call you Bendalf now.

[johnnypatterson]

What really helped me learn the modes was an old Guitar World article it suggested to learn the modes in this order Lydian. Ionian, Mixolydian, Dorian, Aeolian, Phrygian, Locrian, L.I.M.D.A.P.L., in this order you are seeing the modes from the one-note changing perspective, this always you to see and hear the changes to each mode by starting on Lydian and lowering one note at a time, you can quickly and easily build and memorize all seven major scale modes on the guitar.
I really don't know why were not taught these modes in this order, it really was a game changer for me.

[askerzie]

Chuckled a bit over "F# demolished chord" at 11:12 haha. Good vid

[graysonhester]

That lady Lydia really knew what she was doing when she cooked up her mode

[caladan_brewed]

Yes we've had first scale shape memorization strategy, but what about second scale shape memorization strategy?

[KevinNolin]

Another great lesson. Thanks Uncle Ben!

[DisruptedSinner]

I've seen a lot of modes tutorials but this is by far the easiest one to understand. Great video! Added to my practice repertoire.

[chucksaeger]

That was fantastic and was a revelation as well.
Thanks

[kdmason]

Exactly what I needed. Right to the point... Thx for this.

[AlvinWar]

You always have a sweet sounding rig! Cheers Unk!

[lbarj]

well done, another great way of looking at the modes. I will add this to my mash up of fretboard visualizations.

[Mike-rwnh]

Intelligent lesson structure. Genuinely funny and engaging teaching style. Hell’s bells, I even like the no nonsense (and pretty) handwritten notes too. Stellar content, good sir. Bravo.

[michaelvarney.]

Amazing video. A few weeks ago I started in on doing 3nps shapes for all modes and the “atoms” of the 3nps. I asked myself if there are other groupings and tried variations and found this one as well for each mode. And then suddenly this great video comes out and validates all that hard work!

[agirlsname]

2nd Bfast joke lol credit. You are not forgotten.